Combined cleaner, rain deflector, and light guard for windshields



L. J. COLE ET Al.

COMBINED CLEANER, RAIN DEFLECTOR, AND LIGHT GUARD FOR WINDSHIELDS FiledFeb. 25. 1922 T71 ey Patented Oct. 30, 1923.

LEoNAnD J. COLE AND EnmUNn C. HAUCK, or BUFFALO, NEW YORK, AssIeNons,TBY nEsNE AND DIRECT ASSIGNMENTS, To TRI-ME MANUFACTURING co. INC., orBUEFALC, NEW Yoan, a consonancia' or 'NEW Yoan.

,COMBINED CLEANER, RAIN DEFLEQTQR, AND LIGHT GUARD FOR WINDSHIELDS.

Application led February 25, 1922. Serial No. 589,298.

To all lwhom 'it may concern:

Beit known that we, LEONARD J. COLE and ."EDMUND C. HAUCK, citizens ofthe United 'St-etes, residing in Buffalo, in the county of Erie andState of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in CombinedCleaners, Rain Delectors, and Light Guards for lVindshields, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device which in its preferred constructionmay be utilized as a windshield cleaner, a delector for keeping the rainand snow away from the front side of the windshield and also as a lightguard for preventing the sun light as well as the glare from oncominghead lights from blinding the driver of a motor car, motor boat,locomotive cab, street car, &c.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a device of thischaracter which is comparatively simple in construction, neat inappearance, easily operable and capable of being readily applied to thewindshields of standard construction.

In the accompanying drawings:` Figure 1 is a perspective View showingour improved windshield device installed on a windshield. Figure 2 is avertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1.Figure 3 is a horizontal section, taken on line 3 3 Fig. 2. Figure 4 isa fragmentary verticall section, taken on line 1 -4, Fig. 2. Figure 5 isa vertical section, taken on line 5 5, Fig. 4. Figure 6 is a verticalsect-ion similar to Figi 5 and showin the manner in which the bracket ofthis windshield device is secured to the wooden frame of the windshield.

Similar characters of .reference refer to like! parts throughout theseveral views.

The windshield shown in Figs. 1, '2, 4 and 5 for illustrating oneapplication of our invention consists of an upright pane or plate ofglass 10, whichis arranged crosswise of the drivers compartment on theautomobile in the usual manner and mounted in a frame consisting of anupper horizontal tubular bar 11 which receives the upper edge of theglass pane 10 and two upright side bars 12 which extend downwardly fromopposite ends of the horizontal bar 11 and re-v ceive the oppositevertical edges of this glass In its general organization, thiswindshield device comprises a hood arranged in front of the windshieldglass, a bracket mounted on the windshield and means for operativelyconnecting the same with this bracket so that the hood can be moved in avertical p-lane parallel with the windshield glass for purposes whichwill be described later on.

The hood preferably has a main frame and a body portion constructed oftransparent material which may be moved into and out of the line ofvision of the driver. This frame, in its preferred construction,consists of a rear section 13 which is preferably curved and extendsfrom its elevated central part in curved lines downwardly and outwardlytoward the lateral sides of the hood, and the lower section 14 which ispreferably curved horizontally and extends from the foremost centralpart of the hood in opposite directions rearwardly toward the lateralsides of the hood and connects with the lower ends of the rear framesection 13.

These two sections of the main frame are preferably constructed of sheetmetal by stamping, but if desired they may be otherwise constructed. Thebody 15 of the hood consists of transparent material, such as Celluloid,glass or isinglass and the same in' its preferred form is of forwardlybulging or rounded formand secured at its lower edge to the lower framesection on the outer side thereof while its lateral edges are secured tothe lateral parts of the rear frame section and the upper edge of thesame is secured to a flange 16 projecting forwardly from the upper parto the rear frame section, by means such as a rivet 17, or other suitablemeans.

Upon placing this hood adjacent to the f-ront of the windshield of anautomobile,

rain and snow'are prevented from lodgingl on the front side of thewindshield which is covered by this hood, inasmuch as the same isdeflected from that part of the windshield which is covered thereby,which enables a driver to obtaina clear vision of the road ahead throughthis portion of the protecting windshield. The transparent body of thehood also o crates as a li ht shade so that the sun lig t does not a ectthe eyes of the operator.

The transparent body of the windshield is also provided with a suitablecolor, such as red or green, so that a driver of the ble to interferewith the clear vision of the driver, a gutter 18 is provided which ispreferably formed on the lower frame section and which extends from thecentral front part of this frame section in opposite directions of thehood and downwardly toward the 'opposite lateral sides thereof so thatthis gutter terminates adjacent to the front side of the windshield,whereby any rain water which is received by this gutter from the hoodwill be carried rearwardly and discharged on opposite sides of the hood,leaving the space immediately below the hood unobstructed by a spray ofrain water and thus enable the driver to see the road more distinctlyand thus insuring greater safety in driving.

This hood is so mounted on the windshield that the same can be movedvertically and in a plane parallel with the front side of the windshieldlass so that the driver can place the hood eit er in front of the lineof vision for protecting the eyes of the driver, also providing a clearspace on the windshield during rainy weather or the hood can be shiftedto one side of the line of vision when the hood is not required -or use.This movement of the hood is utilized for operating a cleaner which isdesigned to Wipe oil any rain or snow which may gather on the front sideof the windshield lass, if any has been deposited thereon, wit in 'thevision area. For this purpose a cleaning or wiping strip 19 of rubber orsimilar material is mounted on the rear frame section, so as to engagethe front side of the windshield glass, this cleaning strip beingpreferably of crescent or curved form corresponding to the rear framesection and secured with its front portion between the inner side of therear frame section and a clamping strip 20 of metal, these several partsbeing connected with each other by means of rivets 21, as shown in Figs.1,

2 and 3, or by any other suitable means. It

follows from this construction, that a movement of this hood arallelwith the front lil whereby the cleaning stri or wiper is in engagementtherewith, wi remove any snow or rain water which may have beendeposited thereon and thus keep the vision area of the windshieldclearly transparent so that the driver will y always have a good view ofthe road ahead.

This hood may be' moved parallel with the windshield glass by anysuitable means but preferably by means'which are constructed to impart-a vertically swinging movement.

thereof, while the upper ends of these links are connected by means ofrivets or pivot pins 24 with the horizontal web 25 of a supportingbracket mounted on the upper side of the windshield bar 11. These linksare of the same length and 'the upper pivot pms 24 are in linehorizontally and the lower` pivot pins 23 are also in line horizontallyso that upon swinging the hood crosswise of the automobile in front ofthe diii'erent parts of the windshield, the same will also be maintainedin an upright position by reason of the parallelogram movement affordedby these links. In Fig. 1 the hood is represented by full lines in itslowermost position and by dotted lines the same is represented movedtoward one side and elevated relative to its lowermost position, itbeing optional for the driver to shift the hood into whatever positionhe desires, to suit the prevailing light or weather condi tions. rlhisrocking motion is imparted to thehood by the driver while occupying aposition in rear of the windshield and is preferably effected by' meansof an operating lever which in its preferred form comprises a horizontalwrist or shaft 26 journaled horizontally in a suitable bearing 27 formedin the central part of the bracket web 25, between the upper and lowerpivot pins 24, a front shifting arm 28 projecting downwardly from thefront end of the wrist or shaft 26 and pivotally connected at its lowerend by means of a rivet 29 with the upper part of the rear hood framesection, and a the windshield glassy 10 having its upper end connectedwith the rear end of the wrist or shaft 26 while its lower end isprovided with a handle 31. On its lower part this operating arm 30 isprovided with a bearin member 33, such as a roller of rubber whicengages with the rear side of the windshield glass 10 and operates tohold the hood close to the front side of the windshield glass and thewiping or cleanin strip 19 in rm engagement therewith. y grasping thehandle 31, the driver can operate the hood and move the same back andforth on the front side of the windshield glass for the purpose ofcleaning .the same or bringing the hood into whatever ition he desiresto suit the weather con 'tions The web or plate 25 of the supportinbracket may be secured to the wmdshiel frame in any suitable manner.When the upper bar of the windshield frame is constructed of a metaltube, as. shown et 11, in

esl

lui;

rear operating arm 30 arranged in rear of Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, this webor plate is preferably secured to this bar by means of a rear flange orjaw 33 and permanently connected with the rear edge of the plate 25engaging with the rear side of the bar 11, and a front flange or jawdetachably con nected with the front edge of the fplate 25 and engagingwith the front side 0 the bar 11. The rear jaw 33 is preferably formedintegrally with the plate 25 and the front jaw 24 is preferablydetachably ,connected therewith by means of screws or bolts 35, as bestshown in Fig. 5.

lf desired, the upper horizontal bar 36 of the windshield glass may bemade of wood as shown in Fig. 6, the front jaw 34 of the attaching orsupporting bracket may be omitted and instead a rear jaw 37 there-- ofmay be secured to the rear side of/the windshield bar 36 by means of oneor more screws 38. By this means this windshield device may be readilysecured to either a metal or a wooden windshield frame without involvingany chan es in construction.

As a whole, thls win shield device is comaratively simple inconstruction and can lie produced at low cost. It can be readily appliedto the standard forms of windshlelds now in general use and it operates'most eiiicientl to keep the vision area of the windshield g ass freefrom rain and snow so that an unobstructed view may be had of the roadaheadv and it also operates eii'ectively to protect the eyes of thedriver from the blinding glare of the sun li ht or the headlights ofoncoming automobiles. A

We claim as our invention:

1. A device of the character described comprising a hood ada ted to bearranged in front of a wind shiel aud a pair of vertically Swinginglinks pivotall connected at their lower ends with sai hood and adaptedto be pivotally supported at their upper ends. I

2. A devicel of the character described com rising a hood adapted to bearranged in ront of a wind shield, a pair of vertically swinging linkspivotal] connected at their lower ends with said lood, and a bracketwhich is adapted to be mounted on the wind shield and on which the u perends of said links are pivotally mounted).

3. A device of the character described comprising a hood ada ted to bearranged in front of a wind shield, a pair of vertieally swinging linkspivotally connected at their lower ends with said hood, a bracket. whichis adapted to be mounted on the wind shield and o n which -the upperends of said links are pivotally mounted, and an operating lever havinga horizontal wrist journaled on said bracket, a front shifting armprojecting downwardly from the front end of said wrist and pivotallyconnected at its lower end with said hood and a rear operatin armconnected with the rear end of sai wrist.

4. A device of the character described comprising a hood adapted to bearranged in front of a wind shield, a pair of vcrtically swinging linkspivotally connected at their lower ends with said hood, a bracket whichis ada ted to be mounted on the wind shield an on which the upper endsof said links are pivotally mounted, and an operating lever having ahorizontal wrist journaled on said bracket, a front shifting armprojecting downwardly from the front end ofsaid wrist and pivotally`connected at its lower end with said hood and a rear operating armconnected with the rear end of said wrist and pro'ecting downwardlytherefrom and provi ed on its lower end with a bearmg member adapted toengage with the rear side of the wind shield.

LEONARD J. COLE.

EDMUND C. HAUCK.

